Immortal, the Greatest Destiny
by saly21
Summary: A different ending of season 5 and beginning of a brand new journey to fulfill the greatest destiny.
1. Chapter 1

**Immortal, the Greatest Destiny**

I own this fanfiction, that's all. Merlin BBC belongs to BBC.

 **Chapter 1: The Beginning from the End part I**

After Kilgharah left, Merlin, carrying an unconscious Arthur on his arms, slowly stepped down into the lake, the Lake of Avalon, the gateway to the source of all magic. His eyes flash gold. On the surface of the water which was still so peaceful just seconds ago, thousands of bubbles appeared. Merlin and Arthur's bodies shine with a golden light. Merlin closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he saw them being in a place that looked like some kind of ancient construction. In front of him were huge shelves of plenty of crystals and rocks. Merlin had to admit that he wasn't quite sure what to do when arriving at the lake, and he just followed what his magical instinct told him to. Thankfully, it worked. They got to Avalon.

"So you have arrived, Emrys!"

Merlin startled. He looked back. Behind him, stood a tall man wearing a black cloak. His hood covered half of his face, so Merlin couldn't really tell how the man looked like. But certainly, he could tell this man had powerful magic, he could feel it.

"Who are you?" asked Merlin.

"You don't need to know who I am. Just know that I was sent here by the command of the Old Religion to assist you Emrys." – said the hooded man. Merlin shivered. This man's voice sounded quite young, but the deepness made it sound as though it carried all the sadness and painfulness on the earth. Right! It was like The Cailleach's.

"Y-you'll help me save Arthur?"-asked Merlin, finally back to his mission-"please, he's dying…" His voice cracked and became smaller as tear started to roll down his cheekbones.

"Certainly. However, it will still be you Emrys who will save the Once and Future King, as it has always been."

"But, how can I save him?"- Merlin asked nervously.

"The answer is in your head Emrys. And the material you need are right up there."

Merlin turned back and faced the shelves again.

"Those are no normal crystals or rocks. They were already on the earth the day the earth was born. They were among the earth's starting materials. Each of them holds great power. Still, they need another great power to bind with their own, thus transfer them into the forms their power could be used the most." – the hooded man continued.

After carefully laying a weakly-breathing Arthur on the floor, Merlin, though still confused with the man's words, decided he had to do something, right now. He scanned the crystals and rocks with his magical vision. Suddenly, a little black rock on the top shelf shined bright as he scanned through it.

"That's it." Merlin shouted. He then used his magic to move the rock to his hand. "It's so warm."

"That's because this rock holds the heat that can warm souls and convince them rest back at their bodies"-the man explained-"now bind your magic to it, give it a new shape and name. It responded to you so it should already recognize you as its owner."

Merlin stared at the rock. "A new shape and name…" he mumbled.

"Calidicus!"-he whispered as his eye flash gold. At that moment, he felt a small bit of his magic transferred to the rock and bound with its. The rock instantly transformed into a dagger.

"Very well!"-said the man. "Now use it and save your king. All you need to do is to let it touch his heart, its magic will take care of the rest."

"You mean, I'll need to…stab Arthur in his heart with this dagger?"-Merlin asked with a shaking voice. His face turned pale and he felt like some invisible dagger already stabbed his own heart as the thought came through his mind.

"Calidicus, in others' hands, would be nothing but a mortal blade, but in the hand of its wielder, it'd be able to heal any wound and disease. That being said, you must make sure it can recognize you, your magic, to be exact, or else it'd see as any normal human being and you'll kill your king instead."

Merlin felt his heart stopped the moment the man finished his sentence. Sweat was all over his face. He panted heavily. Just one mistake and he'll kill Arthur himself. But if he just stayed here doing nothing, Arthur would die from his wound for sure, and he didn't look like he had much time left either. Still, stabbing Arthur, probably killing him with his own hands, how could Merlin do that?

"Believe Merlin! Believe what your heart knows to be true, that you have always been and always will be." – Merlin stunned as the heartwarming words of his father in the crystal cave came back to his mind as a reminder. Suddenly he found himself strangely calm. No more sweat, no more heavy breaths, no more doubts. Now he knew exactly what he should do, it's just as obvious as who he knew he was.

"Magic,"-he said, with a deep calm voice-"that's what I am."

His eyes flashed gold, and Calidicus's blade was already deep in Arthur's chest, touching his heart which was about to give up beating. A moment of silence, then the dagger suddenly got warmer and warmer while diffusing beautiful bright light spots from it. Tears streaming down Merlin's face when he saw Arthur's wound from the battle earlier healing itself. Merlin burst out a small laugh of relief. When the wound healed completely, Merlin quickly pulled out the dagger. Not even a single scratch was left on Arthur's chest, except for that his armor now had another hole on it.

 **End chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Immortal, the Greatest Destiny**

I own this fanfiction, that's all. Merlin belongs to BBC.

Some notes from the author: I change some details in season 5. In this story, Elyan didn't die at the event at the Dark Tower, he only got a small injury. Morgana, for some reason, didn't chase after Merlin and Arthur after the battle at Camlann, so she hasn't been killed by Merlin yet. Therefore, Gwaine and Percival didn't encounter her, so Gwaine didn't get killed either.

 **Chapter 2: The Beginning from the End part II**

In the forest, just miles away from the Lake of Avalon, the sound of swords fiercely clashing echoed to the sky. The two men wearing armor with the symbol of a dragon on their capes were fighting with some Saxons. The man with long hair easily knocked out 3 of them while the bigger man with buzz cut hair took care of the rest.

"We need to hurry. Let's go Percy!" – the long-haired man urged and quickly ran towards their horses. The bigger man nodded and followed.

Meanwhile…

"Well done Emrys!"-said the hooded man as he looked at the young warlock staring at his king with his face covered in happy tears. Arthur's breathing rate finally turned back to normal. Color had come back to his skin. Arthur lived. Merlin did it. He saved his king from his bane eventually.

"He still needs to rest for a while. His body needs time to fully recover."-the man said as Merlin nodded in agreement.

"Oh, here." Merlin offered Calidicus to the man. "It belongs to the Old Religion, so I think it's best to return it."-he added noticing the man's silence.

"The moment your magic bound with its, it became yours. No one else, even high priests of the Old Religion could ever make it release its true power."-the man finally spoke up again- "It's yours and yours alone Emrys."

"You mean…I can keep it?" Merlin slightly narrowed his eyes.

"Of course. However, it was built from a little rock, with just as little of your magic bound to it, so I'm afraid its healing power can only be used one more time. After that, it'll turn into a useless rock with no power left inside."

"I see."-Merlin nodded understandingly. He wasn't disappointed at all actually. The dagger did its job well saving Arthur, and he couldn't ask anything more than that. "Thank you!" He smiled to the man to show his gratefulness for helping him save his king's life.

"That is my pleasure to meet and serve you Emrys. But remember, the dagger can only heal those who are still alive. It's useless to ones whose souls already leave their bodies. That being said, you must not rely on the power of this dagger, as that may risk Arthur's life again."

The smile on the young warlock's face disappeared immediately after the man's reminder. Again, the overwhelming happiness made him almost forget the painful feeling of so many times he had thought he'd lose his king, and this time it was so close, he nearly lost him forever. Merlin blamed himself. He was always so coward and hesitant. If only he had the courage to reveal his identity to his trusted friends sooner, he would have been able to save the lives of so many innocent people, including his dear friends, and Arthur's bane would have been prevented from the very beginning. He realized that, late but still, he did. It was enough, he was sick of keeping secrets and lying to the ones he cared for so deeply, and to himself. After this, he'd return to Camelot as who he was, without fear and hesitation.

"Now that the king's still asleep, you shall take this time to receive the gifts from your Fathers and Mother upon this visit of yours."- the hooded man's voice brought Merlin back from his thoughts.

Merlin frowned in confusion. Gifts? From his father and mother? What was the man talking about?

"Not your father and mother by blood, but those whom in term of your magic."-the man clarified noticing Merlin's confusion-"Emrys, I believe you're well aware that you were not just built from your human parents, you're the greatest work the Old Religion ever created. You're the son of the Earth, the Sea, and the Sky."

The man's words hit hard in Merlin's memory of the night he stayed in the crystal cave. His father, Balinor, said pretty much the same line to him. A beat of silence. Then Merlin felt like something was calling him. He felt his magic reacting to those calls. Three crystals, one green, one deep blue, and one white sparkling beautifully on the shelf right behind him. That was them. Those crystals were calling the young warlock with a desire to be synced with his magic.

"Give them names, Emrys. Just like when you named Calidicus."

Merlin looked back at the hooded man and nodded in understanding. Then he touched and named each of the crystal while binding his magic to them.

" _Tiarnach."_ First, the green crystal received its name and instantly turned into a staff that looked like a cluster of vines spiraling to each other to the top of the staff where the green crystal located. It had just about the same length with the staff he got from Aulfric, but much more delicate, natural, and powerful.

" _Milisah"_ Next, the blue crystal turned into a black cord necklace. Tied to the cord is its pendant, the deep-blue crystal but was smaller and more polished.

" _Súile_ "Lastly, the white crystal turned into a glass orb that just fitted in a fully grown man's hand. It looked like the orb Merlin unconsciously created with his magic when he tried to protect Arthur the time the king went to find the herb to save the young warlock from Nimueh's poison, but in physical form.

Merlin gasped as though it wasn't him who just did all that, he turned to the man excitedly: "This, is amazing!"

"You did such a powerful spell three times in a row, yet you still look this enthusiastic. Rather than be surprised, I would say I am impressed."

The young warlock scratched his head and grinned embarrassedly due to the sudden compliment. But then his little grin vanished as his eyes looked down sadly.

"Do I really deserve them?" He asked in a low tone. It was almost like he muttered to himself.

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand your question Emrys."

"I-all I've done was to make wrong choices. It was because of me Morgana and Mordred became like that. Because of me, so many have died. Because of my faults, Arthur and the future of Albion were almost gone." He said with a deep voice. A voice that filled with sorrows and guilts. There was no tear in those steel-blue eyes, so why did they still look as though they contained all the miseries of this world? "I wonder if I deserve all these gifts after so many failures."-he murmured.

"It is not my place to decide that, I am sorry. I can only say without you Emrys, there would be no Albion to begin with. A great destiny will not die so easily. Your journey has just begun."

Hearing that, Merlin put on his face a sad smile with his eyes still gazing down.

"Now perhaps it's time for me to take my leave."-said the man as he gave the young warlock a farewell bow.

"Wait! Um…no, I mean, you helped us, so I guess I should at least learn your name." said Merlin sincerely.

"… I don't have one."

Merlin narrowed his eyes showing his slight skepticism: "Why? Doesn't everyone have one?"

"People need their names so that they can have them connect with others'. I don't need a name because I don't need such connections, and that makes me a free soul Emrys."-the man continued.

"I see. Sorry for asking."-the young warlock nodded vaguely. Then he saw the man bowed to him again and quickly faded.

A few minutes later, the sounds of Arthur's movements brought back Merlin's attention towards his king. Arthur seemed to finally wake up. The raven-haired man sat next to him waiting patiently. The king, slowly, opened his eyes. Merlin felt like his heart was about to explode from happiness. His king, who he thought he had lost forever, was now once again looking at him with those familiar azure eyes. His eyesight started to get blurry.

"Arth-"

"Clotpole."

A moment of silence. Merlin's emotional face suddenly turned rather blank.

"What?"- Arthur chuckled in amusement.

"Nothing, just didn't expect it to be the first ever word coming from you after all the deadly experience."-Merlin responded with a what-was-it-that-made-me-try-so-hard-to-save-this-man-again face. "Dollophead." He added after a short pause.

"A total idiot without effort."-Arthur chuckled again.

"And that total idiot just saved your life, _as always_."

"Well, not quite sure about the _"always"_ part."

"Do you really want me to list all the times I've saved your royal backside? But no I wouldn't do that because it would cost me my entire precious two days off."

"That's your only concern?"-Arthur raised his eyebrows-"Are those two days off important that much to you?"

"Oh of course Sire! Because that's Merlin the man who has been turned around and around doing this and that since the day he came to Camelot not only to protect his king but also to make sure the king and his knights have a quality moving human target in their daily training and every time he wishes for a day-off it'd be either the king turned his request down for no reason or the king gets himself in troubles _again_ and he would need to be dying out there saving his royal ass while being accused of sneaking out to the tavern."-Merlin sulkily spitted out from his heart.

Here it is. Arthur wondered why he didn't realize Dragoon the Great was just Merlin sooner considering both of them had exactly the same insulting style and mocking tone like this. The blonde-haired man couldn't help but burst out a small laugh, a very little one, but he swore never ever in his life he'd had a more satisfying one than that.

"Right, thank you! Old friend." Arthur smiled earnestly looking straight in the younger man's eyes which were also looking in his own with so much fondness. Then he saw Merlin holding his arm and slightly bowing his head. The shoulders of the young warlock trembled a little. A soft voice came to his ear, cracking: "Stupid prat." Came after that a long silence. When Arthur started to worry and was about to say something, he saw the raven-haired man raised his head. He could see him trying to choke back his tears while showing the familiar silly smile which Arthur just noticed how bright and beautiful it had always been.

"Welcome back, Arthur!"

Meanwhile, at the shore on the other side of the lake:

"Is it this place?" – Percival asked, panting from exhaustion of many hours riding without much rest and fighting the Saxons along the run.

"It should be. Just look at that giant tower right over there." – answered Gwaine exhaustedly.

"But Gwaine, the lake is…"

"I know my friend. Doesn't seem like we can survive swimming across it at this state huh?" -Gwaine responded jokingly while looking for some woods. "Let's see if we can build a raft!"

"Gwaine…"

"It's alright mate. Don't lose hope, Merlin could do it while dragging a whole wounded princess with him, no way we can't do it."

"No Gwaine…"

"C'mon Percy I know my name is cool you can say it for an entire day when we get back to Camelot but now is not the time to b-" Gwaine's words left unfinished when he saw more and more bubbles suddenly emerged like boiling on the surface of the lake. Their expression turned all serious. Both knights quickly drew their swords, ready for whatever crazy things to come.

From the center of the bubbling area flashed a bright gold light. The two knights gasped with their eyes wide open recognizing the two figures appearing from the light: their friend, Merlin, and their king, Arthur Pendragon.

 _It has begun, the journey to fulfill the destiny of the greatest king and the greatest sorcerer to ever walk the earth._

 **End Chapter 2**

Author's note:

Thank you for reading my story! I started this story when I realized how much I still wanted another ending and/or season of Merlin after all those years.

This is my first fanfiction btw. I know I still lack in a lot of things. I hope I'll be able to improve my writing skills along the progress of this story. (Though it'll probably be a long run considering how busy my stupid life is.)

Also I hope the mocking part was acceptable. I'm kind of dry of a person so…


	3. Chapter 3

**Immortal, the Greatest Destiny**

I own this fanfiction, that's all. Merlin belongs to BBC.

 **Chapter 3: Confession Time**

Gwen looked out the window from her chamber. It was a peaceful night in Camelot. Who would have thought just days ago, this kingdom was covered with a deadly atmosphere when the people were grievingly praying for their king and for the future of Camelot. All of them cried. Gwen, too, cried a lot, but she made sure her tears only fell down behind this chamber's walls. She made sure no one saw her, in this very place, dropping on her knees, biting her lips tightly struggling to repress her tears which were already over her face before she even noticed. She was the queen of this land. She was the only one her people could depend on in that time of darkness. She must hide it. She must hide her vulnerable and heartbroken side. She must be strong. She was, indeed, at least until the end of this day when the sun almost went to sleep again leaving Camelot with one more night of mournfulness. She remembered that moment Leon rushed to her place and looked at her nervously. His eyes widened and there were tears shed from their edges. She couldn't recall when the last time she saw her childhood friend cried was, so it was strange to see him being so emotional like that. As soon as the word 'Arthur' left the knight's mouth, the Queen found herself running as fast as she could toward the entrance to the city of Camelot. Right there, she burst out crying feeling a pair of strong arms gently wrapping around her head and back and pulling her close to the wide chest covered in a Camelot's knight armor. Finally, she finally could feel that warmth from him, the man she loved and trusted with all her heart, again. People were looking at them, but now there was no need for her to suppress those emotions any more. Not when he was already here.

"So you knew?"-Arthur's voice brought Gwen back from the memories of what happened just hours ago. He walked to her and stood next to her side. His eyes gazed at the night sky filled with thousands of sparkling stars surrounding the big blue moon outside the window. How long had it been since the last time he enjoyed this peaceful beauty of nature?

"Yes, just recently actually. I noticed Gaius's strange responses and tried to ask him. He didn't give me a straight answer, but it was enough to explain everything."-Gwen answered looking at her husband to make certain that he was real, that she was not just hallucinating.

Arthur nodded understandingly. Then he felt Gwen's hand caressing his cheek.

"I don't know what his motivation is, but he's done many things for you Arthur. Without him, you wouldn't have been here next to me again."-her vision quickly became blurry with the thought of almost losing her dearest person forever.

"I know. That's why I let him decide. Tomorrow will be one of the biggest days in the history of this kingdom."

Gwen smiled earnestly in place of a respond. The shimmering moonlight softly embraced them as they exchanged their kisses. Unknown to them at that very moment, just right below the royals' chamber, a mysterious figure suspiciously sneaked in the castle.

IIIII

Meanwhile, in the chamber inside the infirmary, Gaius happily prepared two big bowls of soup on the table. He sat down opposite to the young man looking at them with sparkling blue eyes. The young man then dug into his supper enthusiastically before raising his head nodding in appreciation.

"This is so delicious. Gaius, you're the best!"

"Slow down Merlin, you don't want to choke, do you?" Gaius raised his legendary eyebrows and slightly pursed his thin lips as he cleaned the soup on the edge of his ward's lips with a handkerchief.

Merlin smiled boyishly enjoying the brief moment of being pampered.

"You did a great job my boy!"-Gaius said proudly looking straight to Merlin's eyes. He knew Merlin would make it. He never doubted his abilities. "After this, go get some sleep, you must be tired. You'll have a lot to do tomorrow." Gaius worriedly looked at the lanky figure in front of him. The sheepish smile slowly faded on the young man's face as he turned his gaze down.

"Tomorrow…"-he murmured remembering the conversation during their way back to Camelot.

 _Flashback_

"You must be kidding me Merlin. Are you seriously going to do that?"-Gwaine cried loudly startling the birds on the surrounding trees making them fly away chaotically. "It's no different from committing suicide."

"Don't exaggerate Gwaine, it's really not that bad."- Merlin breathed out a small laugh trying to calm his friend down.

"Oh mate it is. You know the law. Standing in front of the court admitting you have magic will only lead you to death."-Gwaine stated angrily forgetting the one and only person who could decide that was just riding right behind him. Arthur cleared his throat which quickly reminded Gwaine of the King's presence:

"Gwaine, I'm the King of Camelot. I've" Arthur firmly stated, then he briefly glanced to the gangly servant who was looking at him with a little grin on his face. Clearing his throat again, the King continued: "I've been receiving protection and support from Merlin. I'm well aware of that and will make sure he gets the credits he deserves. Merlin won't have to face any punishment for using magic. You have my word."-Arthur's clear declaration calmed Gwaine down. The warlock's little grin turned into a wide smile. He felt so relieved that his King openly accepted him as his true self and so proud to think the idiot he met years ago fully grew up into a king treating people with compassion and understanding.

"Forgive my inappropriate behaviors, my Lord."-Gwaine slightly bowed his head to the King. His quiet apology got Merlin's attention as he recognized the deep note in the tone of his voice. Somehow the knight seemed to show more of his respects to the King than he'd, and it wasn't like he'd never behaved in manners before. Merlin was certain that something was bothering his usually mischievous knight friend. Though what exactly it was, he couldn't say.

"But you're sure you don't want any more time to prepare, Merlin?" Percival asked worriedly making the young warlock snap out of his reverie. Merlin looked at the other knight for a second before turning his gaze to the empty space in front of them as he answered with a half-smile.

"Believe me Percy, I've prepared for that day for a longer time than any of you could have thought."

At that moment, the King and his two knights felt like they were seeing a different Merlin, a Merlin who was far from the sunny servant they'd known, whose shoulders were heavily weighed down on with so many burdens, who had suffered more than any one, and who was even braver and more determined than a knight could be.

"Looks like you finally found what you were searching for. I'm happy for you." Gwaine curved his lips into a small smile as he squeezed Merlin's left shoulder. The warlock turned to his friend showing a smile filled with gratefulness.

"That was my magic, I thought I'd lost it, but thanks to your help I finally got it back."

"No problem mate I-"

"Hang on right there, why are you sounding as though you already knew of Merlin's magic long time ago?" the King asked cutting the long-haired knight's words with a great concern in his voice. Percival also looked at them questioningly.

"I didn't know Sire." Gwaine shrugged. "But I was skeptical. Obviously some funny coincidences just happened whenever Merlin's around. You know, falling branches, arrows ridiculously turning back their directions, things like that. Not to mention he almost always got away from all the deadly fights unharmed. And he's not even a knight." By the time the knight finished, Arthur's eyes already widened looking like two perfect circles. How had he never questioned all that?

"Woah Gwaine you surprised me, perhaps not everyone is so oblivious. No offense." Merlin quickly added realizing his king's glare.

"Do you not realize were it not thanks to my obliviousness, according to you, you'd have been executed the very first days you set your steps in Camelot?"

"Well your father did take me to the stake," Merlin shrugged "but I got away eventually, had I not planned to be there to save Gwen you'd have never got a chance to capture me."

"Wait!" Arthur gasped. "Don't tell me that cheeky old sorcerer was…?"

"What?" Now it's Merlin's turn to be surprised. "Didn't I already tell you I was the sorcerer who defeated the Saxons at Camlann? I even said that again to Gwaine and Percival back at the lake."

"You didn'…" Arthur's desperate retortion ended miserably as the two knights confirmed Merlin's statement. "Alright you did." The King said resignedly. "It leapt out your mouth pretty quickly though."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "You just clearly didn't pay attention." Then he turned to the knights. "And he was proud of his obliviousness."

"Shut up Merlin!" Arthur frowned. There was a moment of silence until the King breathed out a small laugh and the other men couldn't help but chuckle at their jokingly annoyed king. Nostalgic memories ran through their minds reminding them of the old good time when they went on exciting adventures together.

"Still, you two really accepted the news more easily than I thought. It was much harder to me at first." 'I even coldly asked him to leave.' Arthur added internally, his mind wandering back to the memory of the time the warlock revealed his biggest secret to him in tears just to hear the cold words coming from the man he'd served with his life.

Merlin didn't have to look at his king to know he was more or less ashamed of himself. He felt a bit guilty knowing he was happy for that. Unlike his father, Arthur took his time reflecting on his own thoughts, words, and actions. He didn't stubbornly stick on his own view but was open to see, listen to and understand others'. That made him different. That made him the great king who Merlin would never regret having his faith in.

 _End Flashback_

Resting his head on his arm, Merlin couldn't put himself to sleep. Back in the forest, he kept saying to them and to himself that everything would be fine. He said the same to Gaius. But now he found himself not being able to put his own mind at rest. He believed in Arthur, and he was certain that Arthur wouldn't execute him after that promise of his, but something in him still felt so uneasy. Who knew what would happen tomorrow? There was one thing he knew for sure, however, it was that no matter what the consequences he must face, he'd face them bravely. Tomorrow, he would show his true self right there in the heart of Camelot. No more running. No more lying. And no more hiding.

IIIII

In the bustling city of Camelot, thousands of people were chatting with each other about today's biggest event that would take place in just less than an hour. They talked about how their king could survive the battle all thanks to a sorcerer and how that sorcerer was no other than his serving boy. Many of them thought it was just a trivia. Many others were certain the manservant would simply be executed soon enough. Apparently not many could digest the fact that the King's servant who had been by his side for roughly a decade was a sorcerer secretly protecting him AND all of them, the people of Camelot.

Inside the castle, hundreds of Camelot's council members, lords, knights, guards, and servants gathered in the Great Hall waiting for the appearance of their King, Queen, and especially for today, the King's manservant who normally only stood in the row with other servants. Just a door next to the Great Hall stood Merlin waiting for the historic moment. Gaius put his hand on his ward's shoulder encouragingly seeing him exhaling nervously. A loud sound of glasses breaking behind cut Merlin's nervous breaths. A brown-haired boy with deep-blued eyes that looked just a few years younger than Merlin was fearfully picking up the pieces of glass while being scolded for his clumsiness. Merlin quickly came to help the young boy and tried to comfort him.

"It's alright." – He smiled to the boy which made the boy looked up and smiled back in surprise. "I've never seen you before, are you new?" – Merlin asked putting the friendliest smile he could pull out on his face. The boy nodded anxiously. Somehow the young boy reminded the warlock of his own young self. The raven-haired man wanted to talk some more with the new serving boy, but Gaius's call made him remember he had an important business awaiting.

"Don't feel so bad about those glasses. Believe me I broke three times more than that in my first month and as you see I'm still here alive."- Merlin shrugged which made the brown-haired boy chuckle.

In front of Merlin now was the big door connecting to the Great Hall. He breathed out. Talking with that boy really calmed him down a bit. As the guards opened the door, the warlock could see hundreds of pairs of eyes directing towards him. Among those people were the knights who'd been like brothers to him and many other servants who loved him for his goofy and caring personality. Upon the other side of the hall, the King and the Queen of Camelot sat powerfully on the thrones looking straight at their friend who was slowly but steadily taking his steps toward them.

The hall suddenly became all silent as the king's manservant stopped right in front of the royals. The air suddenly felt so tense. Merlin thought someone was wrapping around his neck more and more tightly following his every breath. 'No, now wasn't the time to be nervous.' Merlin reminded himself stabilizing his breathing. Arthur gestured to him to start. The young warlock nodded understandingly. He quietly cleared his throat and began:

"My name is Merlin. My mother is Hunith. 27 years ago, I was born in Ealdor, a very small village in the lands of Essetir."-He stopped for a quick gulp and then firmly looked up. – "And I was born with magic."

The crowd, as Merlin had expected, started to whisper with each other about how incredible the young man's words sounded to them. He also saw the royal couple widened their eyes confusedly. They did know about Merlin having magic but had never heard someone having it since birth.

"What do you mean being born with magic?"-Arthur asked in confusion.

"I had never learned how to use spells until I came to Camelot and obtained a magic book." Merlin explained honestly. "Magic was in me the very moment I was formed. I could move object even before I could walk. My mother doesn't have magic, so she didn't know what to do with the uncontrollable power growing nonstop inside me. She had no choice but to send me to G-an acquaintance of hers here in Camelot so that I could learn to control my magic." – Merlin tried his best not to publicly called out Gaius's name to avoid getting his guardian involved in his own problem.

"So you're telling us that you didn't choose to practice sorcery, and it was just there inside you whether you wanted it or not?"- The King asked carefully.

"Yes Sire. In fact, magic is not just inside me, I am magic itself. I told you I was a sorcerer, it wasn't wrong, but more exactly, I am a warlock which is a term used to call someone born with magic."- Merlin explained passionately. He could hear his own heart beating faster as the whispers bubbled all over the hall.

"He's definitely lying. There's no way someone can be born with magic."

"That lad's just desperate to save his pathetic life."

"Such a pathetic excuse."

"Get that devil burned already."

A drop of cold sweat rolled down the young warlock's bony cheek as he realized the comments filled with disbelief and hatred slowly dominating the silence inside the hall.

"Quiet!"- The King raised his arm and ended all the bubbling whispers in one second. Then he looked at the lanky frame below him and asked calmly: "It doesn't look like everyone here believes you. Is there a way to prove what you just said Merlin?"

"Yes."-The warlock answered determinedly. –"Normally sorcerers need incantations to cast their spells, but as a warlock, I can cast a certain number of spells without incanting. Sometimes I even use magic unconsciously as an instinct."

"Perfect! Then show it to us Merlin!"-Arthur commanded, and Merlin felt his heart pound ten times faster than earlier. Right now, right here in the heart of the kingdom where magic had been banned and magic users had been executed for decades, he would publicly perform the magic that built up his own form. The warlock clenched his right hand's fingers into a fist and slowly raised it up to the height of his chest. Everyone there could be sure they didn't hear a single word coming from the mouth of the manservant, and those who could see his face could swear the young man's mouth didn't move any inches. Still they saw his eyes flashed gold, and when he opened his hand, a flame came out of it and flew up. As it flew it spread out like a bud blooming to a magnificent flower before its flaming petals fell off into thousands of glitters sparkling all over the hall and then disappeared. Everyone there, except Gaius, gasped with their eyes wide open. It wasn't like they had never seen magic before, but that was the first time they'd seen magic being used in this way. To be fair, the scene the serving boy had served them with his magic was the most splendid one they'd ever seen.

"So I guess that was enough of a proof for Merlin's innate magic?"-Arthur asked hesitantly having just snapped himself out of his awe. He scanned the hall in relief as he saw most of the people nodded in agreement. He looked back at his manservant signaling to him to go on. The younger man's lips curved into a small smile. He now felt much more confident. Straightening his back, he proudly continued: "As I have said, I went to Camelot to find the meaning of my existence, and I found it. According to the Druid's prophecy, I am destined to become the Once and Future King's guardian. My job is to protect him and lead him to become the greatest king who will eventually unite Albion and bring back magic to this land. And that Once and Future King is you, Arthur." Merlin finished his last sentence with a tone full of fondness and pride. Arthur looked at the proud smile on the face of the raven-haired man, the smile that had given him strength and courage to overcome all the tough times they'd spent together. "The Once and Future King" was what Merlin called him before, he thought his servant just made it up to cheer him up, turned out it held much more meanings to Merlin than he thought.

"So you help me only because it's your job then?"-Arthur asked with an edgy face, but everyone who's close to him would say without a doubt that it was just a joke.

"No, you know me, I never just do as I'm told."-Merlin raised his eyebrows and shrugged which made Arthur, Gwen, the knights and Gaius breathe out a quiet "right!" in unison. "Honestly you were such a prat Arthur, and I thought there were terrible mistakes in the prophecy when I first heard it." The raven-haired man chuckled which made the King threw a glare to him in place of a nonverbal "shut up Merlin!".

"But throughout the years together, I realized there were many good traits inside you beside that arrogant attitude of yours. You're brave and encouraging. You treat people with genuine care, love and compassion." The warlock added smiling.

"You wish to build a kingdom where people are treated with just and fairness. You knighted whoever deserved to be regardless of their statuses." The knights smiled fondly at his friend, noticing he was referring to them.

"You married for pure love, not for the purpose of making alliances between kingdoms." Now it was Gwen's turn to give a grateful nod.

"And you listened to the opinions of a mere servant like me, treated me like your friend." The two young men, one king, one servant looked at each other with genuine smiles on their faces for a moment, then the servant continued. "You learned from your mistakes and tried your best to redeem them. You proved to me that no one else but you deserve to be the King of Camelot, the King of Albion." – Merlin's eyes sparkled with so much faith as he stated. The King looked at those sparkling eyes with so much fondness while next to him the Queen was smiling earnestly. The people in the hall listened to the warlock's passionate words in admiration.

Merlin proudly looked around until his gaze landed at the serving boy he talked to earlier. The warlock widened his eyes. What the hell was that boy doing? All attentions directed towards the young boy as he yelled: "Arthur Pendragon you must die."

" _Forbaerne! Ácwele!"_ -The boy incanted and quickly sent a fireball to Arthur. The fireball flew halfway to the king but was destroyed completely as Merlin easily caught it in his palm. Gwaine and Leon rushed to capture the boy.

"You have magic!"-Merlin realized in incredibility. Then he frowned, his voice darkened: "Who are you? Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking Arthur?" The boy smirked evilly in response: "I'm Kira, Kara's brother. That tyrant king killed my sister, I came here to seek my revenge."

Arthur felt the world crumbling around him as he was beholding a similar thing that happened to his father before. His father executed sorcerers, and their families sought revenge by trying to assassinate him.

"No you're wrong, Arthur is not a tyrant. He wanted to spare your sister. He gave her a choice. She could have just admitted her sin for killing Camelot's soldiers and she'd have been spared, but she didn't." – Merlin tried to explain to the brown-haired boy in the hope that he wasn't as stubborn as his sister.

"How dare you talk about my sister like that? She fought bravely and died for our own kind while you're here playing the role of a coward and protecting the son of the man who pushed our kind to death."- The boy hissed. His voice was full of anger. His deep-blue eyes, which were so pure and innocent when Merlin first met him was now burning with hatred. Seeing that made Merlin feel like someone was squeezing his heart. He let out a sigh and was about to say something, but Arthur's words interrupted him:

"It's alright Merlin, I'll handle this." – Then the king turn to the druid boy in front of him, his tone serious, but his eyes showed a genuine sympathy. "Kira, I know I stole someone important to you. I'm sorry I had to do that. You have the right to be angry with me. I also understand your sister only wanted to call for equality for her people." Slowly, Arthur came nearer to the boy and commanded the knights to release his arms. The boy stared at him warily. "Merlin is not a coward Kira."-Arthur continued. "I was taught that all magic was evil by my father for more than half of my life. It was Merlin who made me realize that wasn't right. Merlin dedicated ten years serving as a servant and risking being executed not just for me, but for you and all other magic users too. He dedicated so much to plant the first seed of hope for magic in this land, and today is the day he harvests his first ever crop." Arthur turned towards the raven-haired man who was looking at him incredulously and smiled fondly. Never had Arthur felt more determined before, never had he been so certain about what he was about to say. Until now, he'd been running around in a circle that his father drew for him, a circle filled with unreasonable hatreds towards magic and the thought of using absolute power to treat people. He'd been isolated in that circle until a young man was brave enough to come near him, willing to guide him out of it. He offered him his hand, it was his choice to whether take it and free himself or not. Arthur eyed over his people. Then, with a deep and firm voice, he declared loudly:

"Considering how much the warlock Merlin has done for me, for us, and for the kingdom of Camelot. I, Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot, withdraw the law of banning magic in this land. From now on, people who practice magic with good intentions shall not be executed for that."

Merlin was stunned at the moment. He couldn't believe what he'd dreamed of for years finally came true. Around him, Gwen, Gaius, the knights, and his other serving friends in the castle smiled happily for him, applauding the King's rightful decision.

"Now what would you say Kira?" – The boys startled as the King called his name. He came for revenge. He expected to face a hard-headed tyrant. Even if he died, he would still die proudly knowing he fought for his own kind. But what he'd seen was so different from his imagination. That supposedly tyrant king apologized to him, spared his life, and freed magic from being banned in Camelot.

"I understand. I was wrong about you. I'm sorry." – Kira bowed to Arthur and Merlin's surprise. But just when the King turned back to his throne and everyone started to be distracted, the stubborn boy incanted another spell which made a guard's sword fly straight to Arthur.

Instinctively, Merlin's eyes flashed gold as his left arm waved out to change the sword's direction. As the result, the sword flew back to the brown-haired boy and stabbed him right in his chest. The boy fell down in front of a stunned Merlin who looked like he had turned into a statue. Merlin could hear them, the very last words from the used-to-be-innocent boy as his mouth curved into a bitter smirk:

"You traitor!"

Kira died. Merlin killed him.

"See? That boy tried to kill our king even when he spared his life. Magic is nothing but evil!" – An old man's voice broke the terrifying silence in the hall. That was Lord Adley, who ruled a town in North Camelot if Merlin recalled it right.

Came after the old man's lines were a certain number of agreements from the people around him. Getting some attention, the man triumphantly continued: "All magic is bad. That sorcerer"-he pointed at Merlin-"He must have planned all this. He calculated every move to get our trust. He'll eventually kill all of us and let the devils dominate our land." Again, whispers bubbled in the hall. This time, they were filled with even more fear and hatred. The young warlock wanted to defense himself, but he decided not to. Instead, he turned to Arthur. Two pair of blue eyes looked at each other, and without a word, Arthur knew his friend was asking for help, no, more than that, he was trusting him on this situation. And thus, the King raised his hand, making the hall once again back to its silence.

"Lord Adley, I'm kindly asking you to hold your tongue." He began with a slightly intimidating voice. "As you all could see, Merlin just saved my life. And this is not the first time. Merlin's saved my life so many times. We could win the battle at Camlann, I could return after the fatal wound, that was all thanks to him. You're pretty much accusing my savior. What happened today cannot define whether magic is all bad or not. Let's say if that were just an assassin with a knife, would you also say all knives are bad?" – With that, the old lord grew completely speechless.

"I lifted the law against magic, and I'm determined with that. If any of you have a problem with that, come and talk to me."

The place stayed silent as people looked at each other not knowing how to react.

"Long live the King!" A loud voice rose from the crowd. Trust Sir Leon on cheering the King. The other knights followed him, then the council members, the guards, the servants and most of the lords present in the hall. Soon enough the Great Hall was filled with the chaining voices spreading all over the castle.

IIIII

"That wasn't your fault Merlin." Gwen said softly, sitting next to her husband looking at the warlock worriedly. Ever since that incident, Merlin seemed to blame himself for putting Arthur's life at stake again and killing a boy of his kind with his own hands. Arthur grew impatient and decided to come seeing his manservant.

"She's right Merlin. You can't expect yourself to be able to predict everything." The King eyed the raven-haired man with great concern. Knowing Merlin's burdens that he'd hidden during the past ten years, Arthur came to realize those times when his servant suddenly became too serious or meditative weren't simply because he was overreacting. He probably had to suffer so much more than Arthur could have imagined, and he suffered ALONE.

"He was looking straight at me." Merlin spoke for the first time after the royal couple arrived at his chamber, his voice sounded broken. "His eyes were calm as if they saw through the deepest darkness inside me. He called me a traitor. And I wonder if he was right."

"No Merlin you-"

"It's true I successfully brought back magic to Camelot." The warlock quickly continued cutting the King's protest. "But with what cost? I watched the people of my kind getting beheaded over and over, but I didn't do anything to save them. The Druids trusted me, but I couldn't save them from being slaughtered. Magic would have been back much sooner had I not made so many wrong choices." At this time, tears already shed on his eyes.

Arthur encouragingly squeezed his friend's shoulder. "You're not what that boy called you Merlin. That boy acted out of his hatred. And I" He sighed. "was the one rooting that hatred in him."

"No Arthur you-"

"It's true Kara committed crime and must face a certain punishment." This time it was Arthur's turn to cut the warlock's words. "But if I could show more mercy to her, things would have turned out better." 'And Mordred wouldn't have gone against Camelot.' The King added to himself.

"Arthur" Merlin turned to his king calling him earnestly. "It wasn't your fault. No one could predict what happened today."

Arthur smiled at the younger man, raising his eyebrow: "Wasn't that what I tried to tell you?" Merlin blinked, then he smiled back realizingly.

'Though it's not true applying to my case.' The King thought.

"Alright!" Arthur suddenly pulled his servant's head and jokingly messed his hair up. In the background Gwen was holding her laughter. "Now, feel better?" The King asked as he released the warlock. Merlin nodded with a thankful smile.

"Good! Here!" Arthur said excitedly as he pulled a bunch of armors and dirty clothes out of nowhere. "Do your job and clean all of them, I'll especially need the armors for tomorrow's practice."

Merlin flinched at them, then he looked up to the Queen just to see she was just as surprised as him.

"Um Sire" Merlin said carefully. "Do you, by any chance, also secretly have magic?"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Arthur snorted. "You better start now because after that you'll need to tidy my room, rub my chamber's floor, prepare dinner, feed the horses and muck out the stables."

"What about my two days off?" Merlin glared at his king with his eyebrows narrowed. The King merely shrugged. "You can have them after you finished all your jobs. I'm the King Merlin I keep my promise to you."

"Fine." The warlock gave his king a skeptic look before starting to gather the dirty armors and clothes when the King suddenly asked:

"What're you doing?"

"What do you mean? Isn't it obvious I'm cleaning your armors?" Merlin answered confusedly, wondering if there was some kind of mistake during the healing process back in Avalon which affected the King's head. Arthur rolled his eyes. Perhaps the warlock's theory was right.

"You have magic Merlin, and I just lifted the law against magic." The King stated matter-of-factly and looked at the raven-haired man to see him gasped in understanding.

"You allow me to use magic to do my jobs?" Merlin asked with his eyes sparkling. His King simply raised his eyebrows gestured for his servant to do as he wished. A wide grin appeared on Merlin's face as he briefly glanced the armors with his golden eyes.

"You see Guinevere, this is why it's important to have both talent AND brain. This clotpole can't relate." Arthur smirked.

"Excuse me Sire, at least I have one of them, you certainly have none." Merlin snorted.

"If being both skillful at swords and wise at making decisions are your 'none' then you must be using a different knowledge standard from most people's."

"Half of those wise decisions were made based on my advices. Just saying."

"Oh and…"

"As if I…"

And the two men continued their never-ending verbal battle. In the meantime, Gwen was chuckling while shaking her head slightly. Another thing caught her eyes was the scene of the armors on the floor quietly cleaning and polishing themselves right after meeting Merlin's glance. She smiled feeling relieved that her king had been protected by such powerful and loyal warlock.

From this day, Camelot was welcome magic back to its land. Destiny started to reveal itself. The first of the three was accomplished.

Or so they thought.

 **End Chapter 3**

Author: I should be sleeping but I just keep writing lol.


	4. Chapter 4

**Immortal, the Greatest Destiny**

I don't own Merlin. The show belongs to BBC.

 **Chapter 4: Lights from the Darkness part I**

The sound of arrows sticking sharply to the grassy ground occupied the training field. It was just another day for the Knights of the Round Table: got up from their beds, ate their daily meals, put on their armors, warmed up their own bodies, and practiced hard to prepare themselves to fight against any evil intending to harm Camelot.

Except today they didn't have the gangly servant they came to love as their friend to hold the target and move it _from behind_ anymore.

Instead, the boy did the job just _right next_ to them. And not with just one target, but _multiple_ ones at a time.

None of the knights could entirely focus as most of the times they kept glancing at the slim fingers dancing up and down, left and right and even circularly sometimes, and when the knights did focus on what they were doing, they found themselves failing miserably as the arrows they sent away rarely got to touch their desired destination.

And the raven-haired serving boy standing next to them just had to chuckle at them as though he was a lord from a kingdom functioned by rules no one else but himself knew of, and all the efforts to adapt to the new land from such outsiders just made them seem so hilarious to him.

But the Knights's discomfort and confusion very soon disappeared, replaced by amusement when their King, having focused too much on the flying like crazy objects, slipped and fell in the most ridiculous posture possible as his face rested peacefully on the mud and his two legs hung comically in the air before their master could put them down and slowly stand up with the help of, yeah who else but that chuckling (now laughing) servant again?

Biting their lips, the Knights were trying their best to suppress their laughter, Gwaine didn't quite succeed though.

"Such a great way to start a day!" The Knights heard their King hissing annoyingly before dismissing their training early. After he and his servant disappeared into the castle, all of them burst out laughing. Gwaine and Percival were literally lying on the ground now.

Perhaps it was not a bad idea, having magic back in this land.

IIIII

"I see you enjoyed yourself a lot back there." Arthur grumbled as he was sitting uncomfortably on his bed letting Merlin clean his face with a damped towel. The servant, seeming to be trying his best to regain his straight face, looked up and grinned.

"Maybe."

Arthur rolled his eyes. This clotpole really didn't know when to deny something for his own sake huh? _Well, if that's what you want Merlin._

"When I said you could use your magic in our training," Arthur began slowly, putting a tone of disapproving in his voice, "I didn't mean you to _freak_ our soldiers out like that."

"Did they really?" The younger man retorted immediately, raising his eyebrows making him look almost exactly like his mentor, "They seemed pretty pleased with that show you made at the end didn't they?" And again the bloody servant pulled out that cheeky grin. Arthur glared at him.

"Anyway," he snapped, clapping his hands on his laps as he began to stood up, "doesn't look like our knights had any proper training with your new method, so from tomorrow we'll just go back to the traditional way with you holding the shield as usually." Then Arthur nodded to himself in satisfaction, amusedly watching the transition from cheerfulness to terror in the other man's expression. He turned pale, well, paler, since he was already pale. His eyes turned into two perfect circles while his mouth opened wide as though welcoming some flies to land in.

"Wha- wait Arthur," Merlin stuttered, his eyes still wide, "they were just not used to the new method. I am sure they will-"

"It's alright Merlin." Arthur cut across, gently putting his hand on the poor warlock's shoulder, pretending to feel sympathy, "as your friends, we wouldn't want to make you drain out your magic for us, it'll be very tiresome. Instead, let's just use your body and the shields as we've always done. That way you will also get a chance to improve your physical health. We'll be both benefited."

Merlin opened his mouth ready to protest, but Arthur was a king, and a king should always be quicker in a debate with his servant.

"No need to thank me Merlin, I know I'm too good of a king I even managed to care for my manservant's health." With that, Arthur walked away leaving the warlock standing still like a dead tree. The King smiled inwardly, knowing Merlin should be regretting now thinking back of how he got so carried away this morning and gave the knights the hardest training day they'd ever had with his magic. Then the King exhaled loudly, it was such a shame he fell this morning, but deep inside he knew he enjoyed it, seeing the people he cared for being all carefree and happy.

In a way, it was thanks to Merlin's magic wasn't it?

IIIII

Merlin wanted to curse himself.

Why did he have to be so stupid? Why did he have to show off and mess everything up like that? At this rate, Arthur would never let him use his magic in training again, and Merlin would be back to his charge for being a living punchbag just like before. The thought of it already sounded so aching.

The poor warlock sighed. At least he had a good laugh with that legendary body landing of the royal prat. He needed it, he knew the Knights and even Arthur himself needed it too, something fun to clear their minds out of the darkness the painful war had brought.

Merlin smiled. Today seemed to be the first ever peaceful day he and his friends had after a series of eventful days.

Or at least that was what he hoped it to be.

"You didn't choose to have magic?" Came a mischievous voice, snapping the warlock out of his reverie. He looked down to see several pairs of little eyes looking straight back at him doubtfully

"Yeah." He answered simply.

"Then how come you still have it?" Another voice raised in curiosity.

"The Old Religion created me that way so that I can one day meet and protect Arthur, the Once and Future King."

"Still doesn't explain why you had magic since birth." Ok this voice sounded quite impatient.

"Yeah, my mom said those people have to learn to do magic. You're lying." Back to the first voice, this time sounded accusing.

"No, I'm not." Merlin laughed weakly. "I was really born with it. I manifested my power just a few days after I was born."

"If that was just a few days after you were born then how did you know it? You were just a baby." _Damn kids are so smart these days._

"Yeah- well of course but my mother saw that and she told me so when I became older." He could feel a drop of sweat running on face now. Today was indeed hot wasn't it?

"Then how do we know if your mother didn't lie to you?"

"Yeah she probably lied to you too."

"My mother would never-" Merlin started to raise his voice in the defense of his mother, but he trailed off as he realized there'd be no point being angry at these little kids. Before he could gather his thoughts to answer them more wisely, their mothers already called out for them to get away from him, not forgot to give him a wary look. The young warlock sighed. He'd been giving explanations about all the good magic could do around the city. That was Gwen's idea, and Merlin loved it. Arthur, after grumbling about how Merlin would just stumble over the air in the process and embarrass himself, also seemed to take an interest to the idea. 'The loyal prat shall see how I'd _embarrass_ myself,' thought Merlin pouting. So far he'd got better luck at other places. Most people listened to him with understanding. Many seemed to like the stunning magic show the warlock gave them throughout his speech. Still, there were places like this where people still considered sorcery as a threat and wouldn't even give him a chance to explain himself.

Shaking his head, Merlin turned to leave when he noticed he just had some new audience. They were a family he believed. A middle-aged couple and their little daughter. So Merlin stayed and began his speech again. At the time he finished, there were quite a number of people gathering around cheering for him. He smiled, tears of joy and gratefulness streamed down his cheek.

He felt so proud for who he was, and _what_ he was.

"That was impressive, young man."

Merlin blinked, snapping back out of his emotions. It was the man from the family that came to him earlier. He smiled at him as he said, his eyes filled with fondness, so as his wife's and daughter's.

"Thank you!" Merlin smiled back sheepishly rubbing his head. "But that was all thanks to you and your family. If you hadn't came here, I doubt the people would've had enough courage to come listen to me." He said with a sincere voice.

"No, young man, what we did was little, it was the rightfulness in your words that appealed them, enlightened them." The man said genuinely. "And to be very honest here, we should be the ones to say thank to you."

Merlin blinked. He was about to ask why when he saw the father turned to his little girl and gave her a nod. The girl stepped up. Now when he looked closer to the girl, he could see she was no ordinary child. She had a long curly golden hair that sparkled brilliantly under the shimmer of the noon's sunshine. Her skin was even paler than his own, a shade of healthy light pink on her cheeks and some freckles lying on and around the bridge of her nose. And her eyes, they possessed the deep green of the woods's leaves, so calm but at the same time so vivid, lively.

"Agnes Grishae" was all she said to him, her name obviously, before she pointed her finger to a rock, her eyes flashed gold, and not much to Merlin's surprise, the thing moved.

Merlin involuntarily looked back to the couple in front of him. As though having read his thought, the man spoke:

"We are but two lowly peasants. We know not sorcery, had never met any magical people in our life." And he turned to Agnes. "This child'd grown up just as normally as all others, a little timid I would say, but just a few days ago, she started to move the rocks around and make flowers bloom." He paused, a glimpse of terror in his eyes. Behind him, his wife already had tears in her eyes, moving closer to hug her daughter.

"We thought it'd only be a matter of time until they find out." He said, almost like a whisper.

Merlin gulped. The thought of what would have happened to the poor girl if magic was still banned in Camelot made him shudder. It was times like this that he realized how many people's lives relied on his destiny, regardless of him knowing or not. He suddenly felt so certain that he had to, no matter how hard it was, destroy the prejudice towards magic and turn Camelot into a heavenly land where both people with and without magic could live together in harmony. He definitely could do that.

Didn't mean it'd be easy.

"MERLIN!" A loud voice from afar calling for him. The warlock narrowed his eyes in confusion. That was Gwaine. He seemed hurried, worried even. He didn't just want to take him to some tavern did he?

"What's wrong?" Asked Merlin suddenly feeling uneasy watching his knight friend gasping forcefully for breath as he started to reply.

"That old git. Who would have thought he had such a gut to go against us!" Gwaine hissed angrily in his heavy breaths which made Merlin feel panicked.

"What? Who?" He asked impatiently.

"That lord of a tosser Adley." Gwaine answered bluntly wiping his sweat. "From the last time when he accused you right after being saved by you I already knew we'd get nothing good from him, just didn't expect him to be that rotten."

"What did he do?" Demanded Merlin, worries piling up in his heart.

"He gathered some angry people, said they wouldn't accept the recent change in the law about magic. They are making a scene at the entrance, demanding to see you and the King. Arthur is dealing with them, but it doesn't seem like this can be settled without you." Explained Gwaine briefly before he wrapped the younger man's arm, urging him to follow suit. "Hurry, we need to get back there!"

Merlin nodded and followed the Knight. His chest felt heavy. He cursed himself for being so naïve having thought things would change with just some speeches and showdowns.

When they arrived at the entrance to Camelot, Merlin shuddered realizing those "some people" Gwaine talked about turned out to be roughly several hundreds. Most of them seemed to be the people from town Loucaston, the town Lord Adley was currently the head of.

Under the shimmeringly red light of the sunset, Arthur confronted Lord Adley, he seemed to be negotiating, trying to calm the crowd. Didn't seem like he was anywhere near to success though. The people of Loucaston still didn't look any less angry. They kept protesting the abolishment of the law against magic.

For a moment, Merlin couldn't breathe. He had thought about how some people might react negatively to this change in the kingdom, but never imagined it could get to this extent. He believed the people of Camelot would trust in Arthur's decisions after all those arduous times they'd gone through with their King.

Obviously he was wrong. Humans couldn't be that simple.

"Look! That's the monster!" Someone pointed at him, his expression filled with a mixture of fear and hatred.

"No, I'm not." The warlock shrugged, trying to look as composed as possible. If anything, that only made the crowd grew angrier. Well, at least they showed a pause of wariness before turning back to their fierce state.

"Yes, you _are!"_ Lord Adley said firmly in a weird cracked voice through his gritted teeth. His two thick eyebrows almost stuck with each other now, making the wrinkles around his eyes gather close together comically. Merlin would suggest the man to become a comedian if he weren't a lord, he would become famous just by being himself.

But now was not the time for that.

"Really? And who are you? My godfather?" The warlock snapped, suddenly feeling insulted. But then he felt a hand gently put on his shoulder. He turned back to see his King throwing a silent 'let me handle this' at him, so he breathed out a nod and took a step back.

"Lord Adley!" Arthur began, his voice tired. "I hope you're aware what you are doing is a treasonous action which may result in a sentence to _death_."

The mention of the death punishment seemed to click something in the Lord and his followers's heads because they suddenly became silent for a few seconds before…

"As if we care, you _evil tyrant_ king!"

A voice rose loudly from among the crowd. Out of all the reactions, Merlin chose to roll his eyes. Seriously. Why couldn't they enrich their vocabulary a little more? Always just revolved around 'evil' and 'tyrant'.

But Merlin couldn't be bothered by that for long. His eyes widened when the person stepped up and revealed himself to be a boy who didn't look like he was more than thirteen years old. That wasn't the main reason for his surprised expression though. Arthur must have thought the same, because he gasped:

"L-lancelot?"

"What?" The boy curled his lips, having noticed the surprise on the faces of the King, the Knights and the man who he labeled a monster. No one could blame them. Because this boy did heavily resemble Lancelot: from the mop of mildly curl dark hair to those black eyes depicting a truthful and brave personality and a handsome symmetrical facial frame that would enchant any girls into a love spell with its etherealness.

Lord Adley's lips twitched slightly. If Merlin wasn't just imagining, he could say the man was suppressing a smile of satisfaction, as though he'd been waiting for this moment.

"Forgive his _somewhat_ insolent behavior, my Lord!" The man inclined his head to Arthur. Was he really apologizing? Because he seemed more pleased than apologetic. "But this child pretty much has a reason to behave so I'm afraid." And he turned to the boy, gestured him to come forward. "Now, my boy, you tell them!" The Lord demanded.

The boy looked up at Arthur and Merlin, his black eyes filled with hatred, but no fear was seen in those pools of a night sky. He stood steadily, his back straight, his hands forming two firm fists resting at the two sides of his thighs.

"My name", he began, and Merlin believed his King was holding a breath next to him as the boy spoke, "is Galahad."

"Galahad du Lac."

 **End Chapter 4**

Sorry for the late update, my life is getting tougher everyday TvT. Though this story has a bunch of flaws, I find myself somehow attached to it, so I'm not gonna abandon it, but the update will be very very slow, extremely slow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Immortal, the Greatest Destiny**

I don't own Merlin. The show belongs to BBC.

 **Chapter 5: Lights in the Darkness part II**

The moment Galahad finished his story, the rebellion of Town Loucaston was wordlessly justified.

The boy's story started back to twelve years ago. According to it, which was added with a considerable amount of details by Lord Adley, Loucaston was attacked by an evil magical force. At the time, the Loucaston people kept hearing groaning sounds from the forest. They started to panic when their cattle disappeared overnight mysteriously. But perhaps the worst of the situation was what happened to the family of Lord Loucaston and two of his servants who happened to be Galahad's parents. Speaking of Loucaston's passed lord, whose last name was used to name the town itself, he was the founder of the town, the true noble man who people there came to respect deeply. Galahad's parents had served his house long before anyone could have guessed. The bond between the Loucastons and the du Lacs was beyond a normal master-servant relationship and admired greatly by many. But after one raining night, all what's left of their existence, of all the legacies they created together, were empty chambers inside a castle full of darkness. In one small chamber though, a baby boy was found crying desperately, as if he was mourning for the death of his parents. His cry was mixed in the sounds of the rain carelessly, persistently pouring over the cold castle. After that night, a boy who was supposed to live happily with his dear mother and father, to grow up serving the greatest man of his town, was left all alone with a future yet to be seen. And that boy was Galahad du Lac.

Of course Uther had to set his foot in the matter, the former King wouldn't have been able to breathe knowing sorcery was present somewhere in his kingdom. He sent a patrol of well-trained soldiers to the place, only to get back the news of the entire squad had returned unharmed, having found out nothing. Strangely enough, all the mysterious disappearances seemed to stop at once. The groaning sounds had also ceased to disturb the quietness of the forest by the time. The only explanation that made sense was that whatever evil sorcery haunting the town demanded some sacrifices, and when the demand was met, hence the death of the lord's family and servants, the devils were satisfied and left the place. Uther was not pleased with the way it turned out at the end, but also decided to stop dwelling on a matter that wouldn't bring out any fruitful results. Just like that, and the case was closed.

The former king moved on, forgot everything about the mystery in the small town, including the life of the little boy who after one night suddenly became parentless. So Lord Adley, being as nice as ever, for he had said so himself, took the boy into his household from that day and let him grow up taking care of his stable. Lord Adley also had his own part in the story. He was a merchant and a rather close friend of Lord Loucaston. After the death of the former lord, he was appointed to succeed the title, thus took the ownership to the castle.

With just that, the story ended. Lord Adley had played his final checkmate, and he won. The appearance of Galahad alone was enough to waver the king's emotion, let alone his heartbreaking childhood story, which was soon confirmed to have happened by Arthur and Leon, who, though didn't participate in the mission to Loucaston, still more or less recalled hearing about it.

Arthur was torn between two choices. He would either have his knights teach the rebellious people a lesson, which would be pretty fast and easy, yet would leave a series of consequences later on, or make a truce with them and just take a break. The second choice sounded ridiculous at first, considering the rebellion looked no better than the case of a grasshopper kicking a carriage, but the results should be worth it. As real as it might seemed, the case was still a mystery, no one could prove if sorcery actually involved in it, but that also meant no one could prove otherwise, especially when it was the only explanation that made sense as of now. It'd take some time to solve the puzzle and find a solution to the problem, which meant the priority now was to calm the people down and negotiate with them later. Arthur knew that for a certain, but could he do so without hurting Merlin's feelings. Would his friend take him as a liar for breaking his promise of bringing magic back to Camelot?

Turned out Merlin understood his king more than the king himself, and possessed more wisdom than the entire kingdom could give him credits, because the warlock said, looking straight in the king's eyes: "What you have won from your people, Arthur, is their respect, not their fear. Be it those that support magic, be it those that oppose it, and be it those that choose to stay neutral, you _have to_ listen to them and make the right decision." Then he looked around at the surprised faces staring at him bewilderedly, mischievously, he smiled: "What? No one thought I had a brain or something?"

"Obviously." The king sneered, making his servant glare at him.

Anyway, thankfully Lord Adley accepted that, upon one condition though: the official agreement must be made and signed at his place in town Loucaston without the presence of Merlin aka 'the monster.'

And the rebellion ended at that for now (before the cringing cracked voice of said lord drove all the knights mad and killed him by accident).

IIIII

"They'll be fine."

Gwen said quietly to the somber warlock, smiling genuinely, still a hint of worry shadowing her own eyes. Merlin cursed himself. At times like this, he should be the one who comforted her, not one who looked like his life was about to end five seconds later.

After a moment of heavy silence, Merlin nodded to her, curling his lips into a small smile. He wanted to say something to light the mood too, but the butterfly in his stomach didn't seem to like the idea. His king and two of his knight friends, Leon and Gwaine, were at a not-so-friendly place right now. What if those crazy people suddenly went crazier and harmed them? Not to mention the mystery happened in the town twelve years ago. What was it exactly? Was it sorcery? Seemed pretty much so. Did it really stop after the sacrifice? Or it still… A shiver ran down the warlock's spine at the thought of _that_ thing still being around the town ready to make a comeback anytime.

Just right that time, the door to the council chamber was pushed open. The court physician busted into the council chamber looking alarmed. Sir Percival and Sir Elyan following behind him, a mix of confusion and worry on their faces.

"What's wrong Gaius?" Gwen asked in a mere whispering voice.

The old physician pursed his lips, looking somewhat nervous. "It's about what happened in town Loucaston twelve years ago, my Lady." And he turned to Merlin. "It _is_ sorcery."

Merlin thought the world around him was crumbling, but he tried to compose himself. He asked:

"How do you know Gaius? No I mean, why do you know it now but not back then?"

"I'm afraid I was not present in Camelot at the time it happened. I was treating people in a far away town for several weeks. The case was closed long before I came back, and Uther wasn't so pleased when I mentioned it. He even ordered Geoffrey to burry all the documents related to that case." Gaius explained with a sigh.

Well Merlin wasn't so surprised of that. Uther letting his pride got the better of him was not something new, especially after his well-trained patrol he was so proud of returned empty-handed.

"Turned out Geoffrey took his order pretty literally. He buried the things for real, right in the library, so he just dug them out when I asked."

Perhaps this was not the time, but Merlin (and the queen plus the knights too) couldn't help but laughed a little thinking of how sneaky the old librarian was in oder to protect his valuable records. The mood was lighter for a moment, then it turned back to the suffocating state when the old physician's tone dropped deep.

"Some peasants heard them when they walked in the forest."

"Them?" Asked Gwen quietly.

"The sounds of the deaths." Whispered Gaius.

"What do you mean?"

To this question, the old man sighed heavily. "Loucaston is a new town my lady. The first people of the town came in from a neighbor country that lost the war under the leadership of Lord Loucaston. But it was after the purge. It is said that the Druids dwelled there before Uther's rage push them all to death. It was just one of Uther's many massacres, so no one even remembered of that tribe no more. However, their spirits are still there, unable to leave."

A shiver running down Merlin's spine, he hadn't forgotten that time when Elyan accidentally disturbed that Druid boy's spirit.

"Some peasants from the town insisted that they heard _human's voices_ echoing from the forest. ' _A_ _soul for a soul', 'Free me'_ , ' _I won't forgive.'_ Those voices kept coming from the forest like that." Gaius looked down, pain showered his face. Merlin understood exactly how he felt.

"But if that the case, then the sacrifices of the Loucastons and the du Lacs put an end to it, didn't it?" Percival scratched his head, not grabbing the seriousness well.

"It could." Merlin responded firmly. "But the question is, who carried out the sacrifice?"

At this question, everyone, Gaius included, stared at him.

"What do you mean 'who'?" Gwen asked, her worry increasing as she saw a dawn of realization on both Gaius _and_ her brother's face.

"Gaius I reckon you can explain it to her?" At the physician's nod, the warlock turned to the two knights, his eyes pleading. "My friends, do you trust me?"

And that afternoon, a servant and two knights of Camelot left the castle for Town Loucaston with urgency and worry seen in their eyes.

 **End Chapter 5**

I know this chapter is short, I'm sorry T.T. I intended to finish the Loucaston Town arc in this chapter but I couldn't. I'll try to finish it in the next chapter :3.

(This is just me rambling but I just took my final exams today, I'll graduate from the community college this week. I hope I can transfer to the university soon. I'll go back to work full-time tomorrow too, I'm so broke now lol. Have a good summer everyone!)


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